What is your general impression of Paganism, either as a whole or individual sects (or both)?
As a descendant of a country containing the last great vestiges of a pagan religion, I have quite a great amount of respect for it. Not only does it represent the strength of the individual to pursue an unfamiliar, largely unfavored, and perhaps reviled path, but it is a return to your roots, a quest that rejuvenates individualism increasingly through higher aspects of understanding.
However, depending on the education of particular groups or individuals, thoughtful theology and epistemology reverts into superstition. This is in no way isolated to pagan paths.
What kind of experiences have you had with Pagans? Have you met Pagans outside the internet, or is your only experience through websites or boards like this one?
Outside of ReligiousForums, none.
Have you ever had the desire to learn about (ancient or modern) Paganism, for any reason?
Hinduism contains a staggering amount of "mythology", having removed nothing and added everything. India publishes a nationally famous comic book series entitled
Amar Chitra Katha, which in Sanskrit means "The Eternal Comic Book" or "The Eternal Picture-Story", where many hundreds of stories are culled from scripture and entertainingly put into comic format. It is a staple of any Indian upbringing, on the sub-continent or as part of the diaspora.
In addition to thus, my father, being interested in history and mythology consistently told me stories from the epics, of Socrates, of the
Mahabharata and
Ramayana, The Iliad, The Odyssey... and I never stopped and continue to read Norse ( I went through a great phrase of extreme fascination with this, learning the Norse script with friends as a secret code for passing notes in class. I was caught once and the teacher didn't know what him.), and Egyptian sources.
Without literalism, the story of a man who succeeds in walking on water, to me, is in no way less chimerical than a chariot flying into space (Hinduism) or parting the Red Sea (Old Testament). I don't enjoy the stories of desert wandering - I don't take them seriously, so, please, tell me a story - I will remember longer and more vividly. In fact, it is because of this that pagan religions utilized this, and Hinduism continues to on a much larger scale to this day.
It was not until I met a particular person in the 11th grade that my interest in Modern Paganism peaked. I will confess - even now, I have little understanding for the generalities, let alone the nuances of Reconstructionist Paths, but that particular person, a compassionate, creative, and smart individual told me about LaVeyan Satanism. I had never understood his reading of
The Satanic Bible which ran so contrary to his personality. But after having read it, I defended the Left-Hand Path in class, which I found was actually contained as an esoteric aspect of Tantric Hinduism.
Do you think there is a difference between the ancient Paganism that was... and modern Paganism today?
I tweaked the question.
I have absolutely no doubt that a pagan today (with the exception of Hinduism, perhaps) is not practicing his or her faith in the same manner as their ancestors so many thousands of years ago.
